Picky Bars Review and Giveaway!

The stars (yes, they are all actually stars) behind Picky Bars are Stephanie Rothstein, Lauren Fleshman and Jesse Thomas. It all started with Lauren wanting to find the perfect bar to fuel her husband Jesse. They were looking for a good and smart balanced gluten and dairy free bar. There were many to choose from on the market, but none of the existing ones hit the spot for the two athletes. So Lauren who knew exactly what she wanted set out to create her own bar for her husband in training.

It just so happened that Lauren and Stephanie, Laurens training buddy, were both injured and had time to kill (and knowing how being injured felt for me, I kind of get a feeling it was a good way to stay sane – a project to keep them occupied!) so they spent countless hours experimenting until they had a perfect balanced AND perfectly tasty bar in front of them. This was the start Picky Bars, and since then they’ve released three other bars and they are also just now in the end of July releasing a fifth flavor!

PickyBars and Evelin

The day I got the sample pack of Picky Bars I immediately wanted to go for a run, so that I could justify having one of the bars. Yes, that’s how excited I was about getting to try these bars out! You probably already know that I like snacks that are as clean and natural as possible, and Picky Bars definitely hit the spot for me!

I received a sample pack to try out. This included one of each of the flavors:

Smooth Caffeinator – Hazelnut Mocha Madness

All-In Almond – Agave Sweetened Awesomesauce

The Need for Seed – Sunflower Butter Sensation

Lauren’s Mega Nuts – Peanut Butter Booyah

I loved every single bite I took from these bars (and wish I would’ve been able to make them last longer). I used them as fuel before a run, as a recovery snack post-run and as a snack while being out hiking and.. Yes I admit, one of them might have just served as an awesome treat, just like that, with a cup of iced coffee. The bars all filled me up just enough, to that point where you get some energy without the “food coma” part. I have to admit I always get pretty nervous when trying something new before a run or a hike, but just as great as the bars tasted as great did I feel being fueled by them out running and hiking!

PickyBars served as a totally awesome snack while out hiking on the lava!

Even though I’m a serious coffee drinker I usually stay away from caffeinated bars, gels etc. before heading out for my runs. No matter how used to caffein my body is I just can’t get away from the fact that my belly tend to get sensitive while running. BUT, the Smooth Caffeinator was actually the bar I tried before heading out for a run and I had no problems at all! In fact, I went for my longest run post-injury being fueled by that Picky Bars! (I’ve smashed that distance by now though!). My favorite.. Do I have to pick one, really? I don’t think so – they all are great! But I guess I’d go for the Smooth Caffeinator. Or All-In Almond (if you are following me on Twitter you might have noticed my obsession with almonds – I eat them daily AND always use almond oil instead of body lotion)..

Let’s have a look at the ingredients in one of the bars? Let’s do the Smooth Caffeinator, just because.. I like coffee?

I don’t just like the taste and how well the bars treated me, I also like the visual concept and the playful wording Picky Bars use – love the look of the packaging, the names etc. I agree, it IS freaking science dude! And wait, there’s more! There’s a Picky Club, where you can sign up to get a Picky t-shirt, the chance to try new flavors, a discount etc and best of all: you get sent 18 delicious bars monthly! All that for $37/month! Oh and there is a new bar coming out soon, one that would LOVE to get my hands on ASAP! Runners High – Blueberry Vanilla Hemp Hustlin’, how wonderful doesn’t that one sound?! Gotta love the runners high, and I’m pretty sure as a runner you are really hustlin’!

As excited I was to try out the Picky Bars as excited (or even more) am I to give you, my friends, the chance to try them too. Picky Bars are giving one of you the chance to win a sample pack of bars PLUS Picky SWAG! How great is that?! Yup, pretty darn great if you ask me!

Head on over to Rafflecopter now and enter for your chance to win, I promise you it’s worth it!

The giveaway is open July 14th 12am(HST) to July 22nd 12am(HST). I will randomly pick a winner and let you know who the lucky one is in a blogpost.

Disclaimer: I was given a sample pack of Picky Bars for free to try and review on my blog, I was not compensated in any other way. All opinions in this blogpost are mine and mine alone and they have not been controlled or influenced by Picky Bars or anyone else.